


Skull

by achievemenhunter



Series: Scarefest Challenge 2014 [2]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Demon!Ryan, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-09
Updated: 2014-10-09
Packaged: 2018-02-20 12:20:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2428523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/achievemenhunter/pseuds/achievemenhunter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For their last Halloween together before they all head off to different colleges, Gavin decides to bust out the book on dark magic he bought at a medieval festival a few years back, and try to complete one of the rituals with his friends Michael and Ray.</p>
<p>They should have just gone trick-or-treating.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Skull

**Author's Note:**

> I seem to like killing folk in these. Enjoy!

"Gavin, this is fucking dumb. This is the last Halloween we'll have together before college, and _this_ is how you want us to spend it?"

 

"Yeah, Gav, you know we both love you, no homo, but this? Kinda lame, man."

 

Gavin clutched the tattered book to his chest, an earnest look on his face as he sat cross-legged on his bedroom floor. "C'mon, it'll be fun! We have to at least _try_."

 

Ray looked at him sceptically. "Do we? I mean, you know all that demons and magic bullshit is fake, right?"

 

Michael added his own cynicism. "Don't tell me you actually _believe_ that stuff, Gavin. C'mon, only little kids and whackjobs think any of that shit is real."

 

The Brit scowled at them, but a devious smile quickly spread across his face. "Well, if you're too scared to do it, I guess I'll just think of something else to do."

 

"I'm not scared," Michael snorted derisively. "It's just stupid."

 

The shit-eating grin was still fixed on Gavin's face. "So you don't mind if I start reading it out loud then?" he challenged, cracking the cover and trying not to cough as small puffs of dust wafted up from the pages. Squinting at the strange language, Gavin began to read haltingly, tongue struggling to wrap around the foreign words.

 

There was a sudden panic in Michael's voice. "What d'you think you're doing?"

 

Gavin's grin stretched even wider than before. "Oh? I thought you weren't scared, Michael. This is all just a bunch of shit, isn't it?"

 

Michael coloured hotly. "I'm not. And it is. But if we're gonna do the stupid make-believe thing, we should at least do it properly, right? Don't we need, like, candles and that satanic star thing, all that stuff?"

 

Gavin crowed in triumph, knowing that if Michael had caved, Ray would too. Or he'd lose interest and go play his 3DS in the corner, either option was likely. But the Hispanic boy sighed and shrugged, giving in as well. Gavin cheered again, dragging the shoebox he'd placed at the foot of his bed earlier towards him, pulling off the lid, tipping the box towards the other two boys so they could see the contents. "You mean this stuff?" he asked, raising an eyebrow cockily.

 

"…Dude, you're way too into this shit."

 

~* * *~

 

"That everything?" Michael asked, nervously fixing the last candle in place. Despite everything, the way that Gavin seemed wholeheartedly convinced it would work was starting to make Michael think there was a possibility that it could. Which was ridiculous, of course, but just in case… "You _do_ know how to control anything that comes through, don't you? I mean, not like I think anything's even gonna happen, but, y'know…"

 

"'Course I do," Gavin waved a hand affably, then pointed at the chalk design they'd drawn on the floorboards. "Demons can't step outside that symbol. Everyone knows that. When something comes through, we just need to stand outside the edge of the circle, and we'll be absolutely fine."

 

With that, he flipped the book open to the right page and began reciting the summoning spell, the words getting easier as he went along. Ray and Michael exchanged nervous glances, entirely caught up in the idea that this whole thing might actually work. Gavin finished the last sentence with a proud smile on his face, but it dimmed as nothing happened.

 

Michael let out a relieved laugh. "See? Told you nothing would hap-"

 

All three of them screamed as the air above the symbol they'd drawn exploded in a flash of black light, sending them scrambling backwards towards Gavin's bed.

 

A man stood in the resultant smoke, tall and handsome in a frightening way as he glared at the three cowering teens. His eyes took in their youthful, frightened faces and growled as he surmised what had happened.

 

Gavin's tan skin paled. "I didn't- I can't believe it actually worked!"

 

"What do you mean, it worked?" Michael asked a touch hysterically. "That guy's just some magician you hired or something, right?" He forced a laugh. "Really funny Gav, you can drop the act, send him home."

 

But the Brit shook his head. "N-no, he's real, I summoned him, he's-"

 

"A demon?" The man supplied, his voice reverberating strangely, the teens flinching under an icy blue stare that seemed to freeze them in place. "Am I to understand that I have been summoned as the result as some sort of childish _game_?" His eyes focused on Gavin, taking a step forward. "I am at the beck and call of no one, boy. This disrespect won't go unpunished."

 

The trio shrank back. "You can't step outside that pentagram," Gavin said, voice trembling. "You can't touch me."

 

Saying nothing, the demon lifted one foot, deliberately crossing the line before planting it back on the floor.

 

"I don't think he got the memo!" Ray squeaked, eyes wide and fearful.

 

The demon's other foot soon followed, and the demon towered over the boys. "Such parlour tricks won't hold me," he said scornfully, clicking his fingers. The smoke still wisping inside the pentagram swirled around him and his skin burst into flames, the flesh dripping from his bones until all that remained under his clothes was a still-burning skeleton.

 

"Ohhhh no he's Ghost Rider," Ray moaned.

 

The demon made a derisive noise, and they didn't question how he could still vocalise with only a jawbone making up his mouth. "I have many names, but that certainly isn't one of them. The only one you humans would understand is Ryan."

 

If any of the three teens had thought that having a normal name would make the demon less terrifying, they would have been wrong.

 

They pressed up tight against Gavin's bed as the demon approached them, a skeletal forefinger outstretched. They were petrified by Ryan's cold, cold gaze, the blackness in his empty sockets seeming to tunnel into their very core. Then, Gavin suddenly howled in anguish as Ryan's finger touched his forehead, cutting off mid-scream and going limp as a blue glow encircled Ryan's hand, fingers clutching at it as if it had a corporeal presence.

 

Michael's face was like ash, devoid of all colour. "What did you do?!" he shrieked.

 

"I've taken his soul. It will return with me to Hell."

 

Michael went even paler, if at all possible. He scrambled frantically to place his fingers at Gavin's neck, but there was no pulse. "You _killed_ him!" Michael screamed, clutching Gavin's body. Ryan shrugged.

 

"Consider it a lesson. Next time, you shouldn't meddle in affairs far beyond your comprehension."

 

"You can't do that!" Ray cried, voice cracking, face almost as white as Michael's, tears clinging wetly to his cheeks.

 

Ryan cocked his skull, and if he'd still had them, the two boys knew he'd be raising one of his eyebrows. "I'm a demon, dear boy. I think you'll find I can." And, with the hand not curled around Gavin's soul, Ryan clicked his fingers again and disappeared.

 


End file.
